In light of current social distancing guidelines revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic, Adirondack Festivals LLC has rescheduled the sixth annual Adirondack Wine & Food Festival to the weekend of Sept. 26-27.
The festival is normally held the last weekend in June. The decision to reschedule was made to help protect the health and safety of festival attendees and vendors, while providing an alternative date in 2020 with favorable weather, said Sasha Pardy, owner of Adirondack Festivals LLC.
The Federal Reserve has expanded its $600 billion Main Street Lending Program to serve much smaller businesses.
The move comes after the Federal Reserve accepted more than 2,200 comments about the proposed lending program from people, businesses and nonprofits. The Fed has yet to set a start date, saying that will be “announced soon.”
The minimum loan amount under the program will now be $500,000 for new loans and priority loans, down from the originally proposed $1 million, opening up the program to smaller businesses. The “expanded” loan type will be a minimum of $10 million, designed for larger businesses.
By Christine Graf
After two years of negotiations, the agreement which would have allowed Pioneer Bank to purchase Jaeger & Flynn for $12.75 million has been terminated.
With more than 85 employees working in offices in Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs, and Glens Falls, Jaeger & Flynn is the third largest health insurance broker in the region. They also offer human resources consulting and a variety of other services.
According to Pioneer Bank CEO Tom Amell, it was Jaeger & Flynn President and CEO Thomas Flynn who ultimately made the decision to terminate the agreement.
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Catherine Hover, owner of Palette Café on Broadway and Paint & Sip on Henry Street in Saratoga Springs, has revised and redirected her business services in the wake of the coronavirus economic shutdown.
“The most important thing for me is my team and keeping them employed. They have so much invested in Palette Café and Paint & Sip, and I have so much invested in them. It’s not someone else’s problem—it’s my problem, and I’m going to be part of the solution. Putting my staff on unemployment is not solving the problem. We’re going to pivot the hell out of this thing,” said Hover.
Hover utilized both businesses to put together “Paint & Take” paint kits. The kit includes a canvas, brushes, all the paint you need for the project. There is a $3 refundable deposit for the brushes, refundable when brushes are returned. Step-by-step instructions are included in the kit, and a recorded instructional session is available as well.
Wine is included with the kit for $15. Customers choose between a white or a red house wine.
Skidmore College student entrepreneurs were awarded more than $50,000 in prizes recently in the 10th anniversary Freirich Business Plan Competition.
First prize of $20,000 cash went to Maya Ling ‘20 and Emily Egan ‘20 for their bakery business, Coven.
Self-described “natural leaders, entrepreneurs and doers,” Ling and Egan met during their first year at Skidmore in the dining hall, where they bonded over their shared love of food, college officials said. They grew their passion into an herbal bakery and lifestyle brand that focuses on core values of quality local ingredients and community.
Coven baked goods are infused with herbs, flowers and spices. Current cookie flavors include rosemary dark chocolate, lavender orange, cardamom ginger and hibiscus black sesame. In addition to creating delicious treats, Coven also engages with customers on online platforms to share recipes, cooking tutorials and articles to “generate a community excited about a healthy and fun lifestyle,” said Egan.
“When we decided to enter the competition, we could never have imagined that we would end up where we are now,” said Ling. “We have never pursued something more ambitious, and have never felt more accomplished than we do now.”
By Susan E. Campbell
Knitt LLC, the entity that brings together nonprofit groups and companies having a common mission, is hoping its online match-making service about to go online will have a strong positive impact on helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The landscape for charitable giving and receiving changes every day as the COVID virus lingers,” said founder Lisa Munter, who has served on the boards of a number of local nonprofit organizations.
“Events the nonprofits hold to maintain funding are being cancelled or postponed,” she said. “They desperately need to reach out to offset these losses.”
On the giving end, companies all over the state are also facing financial constraints, hindering their ability to make donations.
With the status of this year race meet at Saratoga Race Course up in the air, and indications being that horses will run, but fans won’t be allowed in, local businesses are concerned about the economic implications.
Racing season has a huge impact on local businesses—restaurants, hotels, bars, downtown shops, employees at the track and many more. Regarding that, officials at Adirondack Trust Co. released a statement in conditions as they exited on May 1st.
That statement follows:
“Gov. Cuomo … expressed doubt about the advisability of opening major attractions like the Saratoga Race Course, saying gatherings of large crowds might impede efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
An attraction like the Saratoga thoroughbred racing meet would draw fans from across New York and from neighboring states, he said, and potentially spread the virus.
Cuomo is absolutely correct in placing the health and safety of all New Yorkers as his top priority. With respect to welcoming the public this summer at the Saratoga thoroughbred race track, we hope he will keep an open mind. The circumstances of this pandemic change rapidly and conditions could change for the better sooner than expected. With robust public health protections in place, it may still be safe to open to the public, at least on a limited basis.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association released data today showing that 70 percent of hotel employees have been laid off or furloughed as eight in 10 hotel rooms across the nation remain empty.
As the crisis, the impact to the travel industry is nine times worse than the 9/11 tragedy, with forecasted occupancy rates for 2020 hitting record lows worse than rates in 1933 during the Great Depression, the AHLA said.
“With the impact to the travel industry nine times worse than September 11, the human toll of this public health crisis has been absolutely devastating for the hotel industry. For the hotel industry our priority is rehiring and retaining our hardworking employees who power our vibrant industry,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA. “Hotels were one of the first industries affected by the pandemic and will be one of the last to recover.
“The CARES Act was an important first step with a lot of supportive measures for the hotel industry, but we need Congress to make important changes to the program to reflect the current economic reality and help the employees in the industries that have been impacted the most.”
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
In response to the mandated shutting down of all non-essential businesses, six Saratoga organizations have collaborated to form a task force.
The group is comprised of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga Economic Development Corp. (SEDC), the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, Discover Saratoga, Saratoga Springs City Center and the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association.
“The first thing we did on March 13, as it was becoming crystal clear that the world was about to change, was start a collaborative conversation. All of us have formed a partnership to get Saratoga County through this,” said Todd Shimkus, Chamber president.
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Quick Response Restoration in Round Lake is offering a free disinfecting service for all first responder vehicles used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vince Laurenzo, Jr., CEO, said “given the nature of our business, we work with first responders quite a bit already … All first responders that want to bring their vehicle to our headquarters in Round Lake from 2-5 p.m. every day, we’re going to have our guys out there kind of like a carwash, but a disinfection carwash. We have them line up in a row, drive through, get out and we’ll spray down the cab and whatever else needs to be disinfected for the day,” said Laurenzo.
“We have a large property and the infrastructure for proper distancing to easily and efficiently do this,” said Laurenzo.